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BigTidy

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Everything posted by BigTidy

  1. The Compass Box website gives you a detailed breakdown of what is in each blend. I got the Great King Street for a Christmas present and really liked it, https://www.compassboxwhisky.com/whiskies/index.php?id=5#prettyPhoto Turns out it has Clynelish and Linkwood in it, two of my favourites. Picked up the Glasgow Blend last week, it starts off similar but they added Laphroaig to give it some smoke. The transparency of what is in each blend is great, encourages me to buy something rather than puts me off.
  2. I missed out on the Aberlour, although I take slight issue with the website not protecting bottles that are in your basket. I added it to basket, applied a voucher code, tried to apply a second code only to discover you can only do one per purchase, went to checkout at 0902 and it said the bottle was no longer in stock. Might head to the vaults the first weekend they re-open and see if there's any in stock there.
  3. I've a bottle of the Port Charlotte and Bunnahahbain on the go at the moment. Can't go wrong with either but I'd say the Port Charlotte is the superior one for me. Never tried the Port Askaig. There's a James Eadie Ardmore on the go at the moment, think you can get it from Royal Mile Whiskies. The Ardbeg Uighedeal is on the high end of your price range but is very good.
  4. Went to Campbeltown last month in a group of 12 . It was in the middle of one of the storms so it was freezing and wet all weekend but managed to get around the three distilleries. Glen Scotia tour and dunnage warehouse tasting. Tried five whiskies drawn straight from the casks. All around 55%. The first two we had were my favourites, 20yo and 18yo bourbon casks. Tour guide said their 18 yo bottling is pretty close to the taste. No option to buy a bottle of one of the ones we tried. A good tour, generous measures and tour guide was up for a bit of chat. Bit of sour note at the end as we were rushed out a little. Might help if they paid their staff an extra hours work when they have a tasting on. Kilkerran/Glen Gyle tour. Pretty interesting tour as it wasn't operational at the time of going round. Got one dram (and top-up) as part of the tour. Nice whisky at a good price. I bought a bottle of the standard Kilkerran for £35, great value dram. Springbank tour/ Cadenhead tasting. Part of a massive group doing the tour of Springbank. Pretty interesting how they change production depending if they're making Springback/Longrow/Hazelburn. The dunnage warehouse tasting was all casks that are owned by Cadenhead (Springbank own the Cadenhead bottlers and shop) so we didn't actuall taste any Springbank on the tasting. Six drams straight out the cask and you could buy a bottle that was drawn from the cask. I came away with a 22yo Aberfeldy. the tour guide was really sound and threw in a gin and rum tasting after as well. After eight cask strength spirits we popped into Cadenhead and spent a ton of money on more whisky. The guys in the shop were up for pouring tastes of anything and I picked up a Cadenhead bottle of Linkwood 11yo Bourbon cask. could have spent much more. Good trip, definitely worth doing if you're into whisky. Very scenic drive on the way down. Three tours and three bottles purchased. Would probably have bought a Glen Scotia too if we weren't being rushed out the door. Found a decent pub/restaurant for dinner and went to a hotel bar that had a massive whisky selection for a nightcap.
  5. I went to a decent wee whisky pub called Monty's on Morrison Street last week, very handy for a swift dram before catching the train at Haymarket. Good selection of "Malt of the Moment" offerings at a decent price. Big selection of indie bottlers alongside more standard bottlings. Other one not mentioned yet is Nauticus down by Leith Links. They have some partnership with Royal Mile Whiskies and do their own bottlings occasionally. Besides that, Leith Vaults, Bow Bar and Pot Still all worth a visit. Outside the central belt, the Mash Tun in Aberlour has a good selection and staff who will give you some chat about what you're choosing. I'm up in Speyside next month and going to try and visit the highlander bar too.
  6. Depends on your budget, the more you pay then the more of the good stuff gets poured. I've heard good things about the Aberlour tour and tasting. There's a few options but I think the one around £35 is a decent tasting session with someone talking you through it. Balvenie also looks good but is at least £40 a head from memory. I'm hoping to go round Aberlour in a few weeks. The Glenlivet tour was free when I went and finished in the bar area. You got one glass as part of the tour and could buy more from the bar. Not sure if they have other options. I went to Glen Moray and they do tastings in the coffee shop area without the need for a tour. You could get a four dram flight for around £20. I've done the Macallan tour but wouldn't recommend it, pretty disappointing selection of drams at the end.
  7. Kind of depends on your budget. Glengoyne 12 is around the £40 mark and is very easy to drink.
  8. Did anybody go to the Whisky Fringe last weekend? I went on the Saturday, couple of highlights were: James Eadie - I'm generally a big fan of their bottlings. They had a Linkwood 11 Amontillado cask which was my favourite from the day and duly purchased at the end of the day. They also had a Linkwood PX cask and a Caol Ila Palo Cortado which are worth checking out. An Cnoc 16 Cask Strength Wemyss Malts - Never heard of these guys before. They had three different blends; a sweet one, a spicy one and a peaty one. Also a couple of single cask bottlings including a very nice Linkwood. Went to them for the half time orange as well, 31 year old Bunnahabhain.
  9. Picked up the Oban 14 for £39. About a tenner off, not an amazing deal but I was looking for something else in that price bracket as a sipping whisky. Might pick up a Glengoyne 12 if I see one going anywere then something a bit more special at the Whisky Fringe in a couple of weeks.
  10. I was in the vaults in Leith a couple of months ago and tried a couple of Longmorns. Came to the conclusion that 12-16 years was a good age for them. Tried one that was in the 20s and it wasn't so great.
  11. I like Scallywag. They've got a couple of variations - NAS, 10yo, 13yo. Douglas Laing produce that blend and do a few other by region. Gauldrons is a Campbeltown blend, there's Timorous Beastie, Epicurean and a couple others. They're all very drinkable and also good for whisky cocktails.
  12. Had this the other day at a wedding and really liked it. Also tried the Port Charlotte MRC at a whisky festival in Stirling a couple of weeks ago and it was my favourite whisky i tried there.
  13. I was tempted by the deal on the 18. I've got a couple of young Caol Ila bottles at the moment from independent bottlers, James Eadie and Hunter Laing, and they are both excellent. Be interested to see how an older one compares. However, Christmas is coming up and I'll hopefully receive a couple of bottles of whisky then so going to hold off and see what I get before making any more purchases at the moment.
  14. The 18 year old is on Amazon at the moment for £63.
  15. I was up in Nethy Bridge for my brother's stag do a couple of weeks ago. Him and his pals have all done a distillery tour or 10 so I organised a tasting session at the Whisky Castle in Tomintoul for a different kind of whisky event. Can highly recommend popping in if you're in the area. We chucked them a bit of money to open up some of the good stuff but they also do a free tasting option. Really knowledgable owners and staff, up for a bit of a laugh too. Not that it was a lads, lads, lads stag party but they still got involved in the chat. They also buy a couple of casks each year and bottle them themselves so they have a few interesting bottles to try. We tried a 6yo Talisker and 8yo Caol Ila amongst others and they were absolute standouts. The Talisker was £70 which I had decided was a bit too pricey but now having a slight regret about not picking it up.
  16. Did anybody go to the whisky fringe over the weekend? I was there on Saturday. Tried the Glendronach parliament which lived up to the hype. Currently debating whether I can afford £125 for a bottle. The big find of the day for me was Longrow. I tried their NAS peated, 14 YO sherry and an 18 YO. All were excellent. I'm going to try and pick up a 14YO but I think it's really limited stock. Disappointments were the Dalmore King Alexander III which really wasn't for me. Very perfumey. I also wasn't a big fan of the Glencadam 13 but that was later in the afternoon and my taste buds aren't always to be trusted at that point.
  17. I was really just picking up on the homophonic/homophobic typo.
  18. I've never been a fan of Jura. Has anybody been through Edinburgh Airport recently? I'm going down to London next week for my brother's wedding. Was going to take a bottle of whisky down with me, can't decide whether to pick something up in advance or to see what deals are going in the airport.
  19. What was the reason, within the program, that the Doctor always changed into a man? Jodie Whittaker is a good actor. Whether she's a success or not is all going to come down to the writing.
  20. The penultimate episode was really good. The finale, not so much. I thought the Doctor was going to regenerate into Missy. He made a point of grabbing her hand before she left, I thought he was passing on some regeneration power or something. I know you have to ignore some of the time travel logic but one bit stood out to me. Missy says she loved being the Master. Then conveniently forgets that as the Master, she shot herself in the back?
  21. Actually, he says "climbs like an absolute gazelle" which is even better. Gazelles being well known for their climbing ability.
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